Medicaid

Polls show that frustration with Washington has never been higher — and who could argue? Most Americans believe the country is on the wrong track. Most lawmakers openly concede that nothing will get done before the November elections. The leaders of both parties are already trading threats over the possibility of a national debt default next year. Barack Obama got elected by promising to change the tone in Washington, but clearly he's failed, as George W. Bush did before him. That should be a clue that the partisan animosity consuming the political system doesn't originate in the White House.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Katie Beckett, whose struggles with childhood illness and federal bureaucracy brought landmark changes to the Medicaid program allowing children with disabilities to live at home, has died in Iowa, her mother said. Katie Beckett died at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids on Friday after suffering digestive problems, Julie Beckett said. She was 34. Ms. Beckett spent most of the first three years of her life at St. Luke's after encephalitis left her with severe breathing problems that required the use of a respirator 12 hours a day. Doctors predicted she would...

Governor Dannel P. Malloy's new budget proposes to raise the eligibility threshold for low-income adults to apply for health insurance through Medicaid. It would to raise the current $1,000 asset limit for low-income adults applying for Medicaid to $25,000. The new proposed asset limit does not include a person's primary residence or single vehicle. Officials project that the proposed plan could save $30 million annually. (AP)

The state is projected to end the current fiscal year with a $102.7 million budget surplus. Budget Officer Thomas Mullaney says his revised estimate this week comes because of an increase in revenues and drop in spending, especially in Medicaid expenses. The Providence Journal reports ( http://bit.ly/KvhcHR) that state agency budgets are running $16.9 million over budget, but Medicaid spending is projected to be $29 million below estimates. –– Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.providencejournal.com

On Wednesday at 1 p.m., the Council on Aging will present a discussion by Eric Prichard, a lawyer with Brown & Brown PC, on Medicaid and MassHealth, which can cover the cost of long-term care for seniors who meet financial qualifications. Topics to be covered include what kind of care Medicaid covers, the financial regulations that apply, and whether the state can pursue a recipient's assets. Prichard will also discuss options for seniors who are concerned about protecting their assets from the cost of long-term care.

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of middle-income families with disabled children would be eligible for Medicaid under legislation that passed the Senate yesterday. The bill is designed to address the plight faced by parents who have to turn down jobs or raises and, in some cases, give up custody of their disabled children to continue receiving governmentpaid health care. Parents would be able to buy into Medicaid while continuing to work and earn an annual income of up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level, about $47,000 for a family of four in 2004.

AUGUSTA, Maine - Even before state lawmakers begin their review of Medicaid cuts that could leave 65,000 people without coverage, the talk is heating up over Governor Paul LePage's plan to avoid a $220 million state budget shortfall. In repeating his argument that the state faces a crisis due to unsustainable Medicaid costs, LePage said Democrats "would rather deny the numbers, skew facts, and ignore the problem altogether. " "For decades, policies led by Democratic leadership have expanded Medicaid benefits far beyond the national average, creating an unsustainable program," a...

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s health care law would let several million middle-class people get nearly free insurance meant for the poor, a twist government number crunchers say they discovered only after the complex bill was signed. The change would affect early retirees: A married couple could have an annual income of about $64,000 and still get Medicaid, said officials who make long-range cost estimates for the Health and Human Services department. Up to 3 million more people could qualify for Medicaid in 2014 as a result of the anomaly.

MALDEN - Brookline doctor Punyamurtula Kishore has treated and helped thousands of drug addicts, but authorities say he also bilked hundreds of thousands of dollars from Medicaid with a kickback scheme that sent urine drug testing to his nonprofit agency. "This is just the tip of the iceberg," said Nancy Maroney, assistant attorney general, during Kishore's arraignment yesterday morning in Malden District Court. She said that in addition to a charge of "medical assistance bribe/kickback," other charges are pending against Kishore, a 61-year-old citizen of...

WASHINGTON — A record number of Americans signed up for Medicaid last year, as the recession wiped out jobs and workplace health coverage. Enrollment in the safety-net medical insurance program jumped to more than 48 million — a record 15.7 percent share of the US population, according to a report released yesterday by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation. With the economy barely improving, states are forecasting a 6 percent increase in the rolls next year, further straining their depleted budgets.

Tricia Clark will keep her fingers crossed when the Legislature reconvenes this week and takes up a budget plan that calls for sharp cuts in Medicaid and health care spending. Clark, 19, stands to lose out when the Legislature votes on a plan to slash spending on Medicaid and a slew of other programs ranging from mental health assistance and school grants to dental care, drug abuse treatment and prescription drugs. Clark is one of nearly 7,000 young adults who will lose Medicaid coverage if the Legislature approves a proposal to eliminate 19- and 20-year-olds from the state's Medicaid program,...

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Obama administration is buying into an ambitious health care initiative in Oregon, announcing Thursday that it has tentatively agreed to chip in $1.9 billion over five years to help get the program off the ground. Oregon hopes to prove that states can save billions on Medicaid without sacrificing the quality of health care. Governor John Kitzhaber's plan would invest in preventive care to keep patients healthy so they don't need expensive hospitalizations.

Whether successful or not, Illinois governors repeatedly have aimed at the same target for additional money to address the state's financial gap — cigarette smokers. But for the first time, Gov. Pat Quinn has floated the idea of tying a cigarette tax hike to improving health care. The Democrat says a $1-per-pack increase would bring in nearly $700 million — including federal matching funds — to help close a $2.7 billion Medicaid short fall, with the benefits going well beyond.

Federal authorities say wholesale drug distributor McKesson Corp. will pay more than $190 million to settle claims that it led Medicaid to overpay for drugs by reporting inflated prices to a publisher. New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman and other officials said Thursday that McKesson marked up the average drug prices it reported to publisher First DataBank by 25 percent between 2001 and 2005. Most state Medicaid programs use First DataBank information to determine what they pay for drugs.

New Hampshire officials have chosen Boston Medical Center's HealthNet Plan as one of three insurers to manage care for low-income and disabled residents, if a proposal to overhaul the state's Medicaid program gets the necessary approvals from the governor's executive council and federal authorities. Last year, the New Hampshire Legislature voted to change the program from a state-run system in which doctors, hospitals, and other providers are paid for each test and treatment to one that is run by contracted health plans paid a designated fee for each patient, called a...

THE GLOBE'S front-page article about alleged Medicaid scams at "sober homes" for recovering addicts in Massachusetts points out the long-neglected needs of substance abuse clients ( "Seeking sobriety but finding a scam," April 1). While lack of state regulatory authority over sober houses can lead to a Wild West environment compared with recovery systems for other diseases, the unregulated system should also get credit for the many people it helps. In the case the article highlights, Medicaid declined to cover long-term hospitalization.

INDIANAPOLIS — A looming showdown over Indiana’s new law that cuts funding for the Planned Parenthood organization may test how far Republican-led states are willing to go in pressing their tough new antiabortion agendas. The stakes are high. The future of health care for more than 1 million poor and elderly Indiana residents hangs in the balance. Indiana became the first state this year to cut off all government funds to Planned Parenthood, fulfilling conservatives’ goal of financially weakening organizations that provide abortions.

A legislative committee this week will take another look at a bill to authorize payments to people who report MaineCare fraud. The Judiciary Committee has scheduled a work session on the bill for Tuesday afternoon. At a hearing last week, the committee heard from some individuals and groups who praised the idea as a potential money maker for the state, and others who found the idea of bounties distasteful. Lincoln Republican Rep. Jeffrey Gifford's bill allows payments for a person who brings action citing fraud in MaineCare.

New Hampshire officials have chosen Boston Medical Center's HealthNet Plan as one of three insurers to manage care for low-income and disabled residents, if a proposal to overhaul the state's Medicaid program gets necessary approvals from the governor's executive council and federal authorities. The New Hampshire Legislature last year voted to change the program from a state-run system in which doctors, hospitals, and other providers are paid for each test and treatment to one that is run by contracted health plans paid a designated fee for each...

Connecticut lawmakers will be hearing opinions on a bill that proposes increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates for local pharmacies. Members of the legislature's Human Services Committee will discuss the bill during a Tuesday afternoon public hearing at the Legislative Office Building. In addition to increasing the prescription reimbursement rate for local pharmacies, it would also double the prescription-filling fee paid to independent pharmacies for Medicaid-funded drugs.